Not sure how to even start. On the one hand, so much good has come out of the HeLa cells; on the other hand, at what cost? Is it okay to exploit some people in order to benefit others? At the end of the day, even the Lacks family didn't want to sue for the HeLa cells or to take it away from science. They recognize all the good their mother's cells have done for medical advancement. All they wanted was to have a little of those benefits themselves; some recognition, have their own health paid for and taken care of, their children's futures assured... I think that's the crux of the matter, most people are okay with doing their parts for science, just not at the cost of their own suffering.
But before that, it's so sad to read about Deborah's trauma response and health issues. And Henrietta's other children too. They lost their mother, and had been given the runaround before they finally got answers. They kept getting exploited over and over again. It's sickening. I'm also not sure what to say about their father, since he was the one who went and slept around and passed along the STD that probably killed Henrietta. Yet Henrietta was the one who got slut shamed for getting cervical cancer. He was also the one who brought Ethel and Galen into their family and did nothing while Galen assaulted Deborah in front of him. Ugh.
I have so many feelings about this book and I don't know how to process them. I do feel like Skloot did an amazing job telling their story though. It's very well-written, and it seems like she did her best to keep to the integrity of the story and respect the family's wishes. I'm glad I read this!
She didn’t sugarcoat them or try to make them appear better or worse than they are. They certainly had a lot of quirks, but a certain amount of that makes perfect sense given the personal, family, and community history that you learn about. The story of Henrietta presented against an international backdrop of scientific research is really interesting. Personally I wouldn’t mind if my cells ended up helping cure illnesses, but the way pharmaceutical companies make profits, I wouldn’t trust any of them to not just use me to make money. And the research industry has been proven to be just as scrupulous as other industries (idk if I’m using that word right lol) A really interesting read. The first time I tried to read this I didn’t finish, so glad I got through it this time.